Reishi At A Glance

Reishi (also known as "Ling Zhi" in China) has been known to the Asian world for over 2,000 year Its miraculous health enhancing applications have been employed by Oriental cultures for centuries, but have only been introduced to the Western world in the last 30 years. Reishi is the legendary wizard of all superior medicinal herbs because of its apparent medical efficacy and the absence of unfavorable side-effects and toxins resulting from consumption. Because of its rarity in nature, reishi was reserved primarily for Asian royalty and wealthy individuals until the late 20th century, when cultivation of red reishi mushrooms by the Japanese made the once rare fungi plant more widely available to the general populace around the world.

Although there are more than 2000 known species of Reishi, only six kinds have been studied in greater detail to uncoverpotential health benefits – red, black, blue, white, yellow and purple Reishi. Of these six types, black and red Reishi have demonstrated the most significant health-enhancing effects, and both are therefore widely used in the global health supplement market today. However, red Reishi has been proven to be the most effective in improving one’s overall health by enhancing the immune system, many bodily functions, and vital organs.

Black Reishi (Ganoderma sinensis), is fairly common and can be found in most Chinese herbal shops. This species of Ganoderma tends to be unevenly shaped and can measure up to ten inches in diameter, although most mature specimens are about six inches in diameter. The majority of Reishi products that claim to be using "wild" Reishi generally use black Reishi. While it still possesses some value as a moderate herbal tonic, black Reishi is considered to be inferior to red Reishi because of its lower polysaccharide content.

Wild purple Reishi grows in the Chang Bai Mountains, north of North Korea in Jilin province of China. They are extremely rare and very similar to red Reishi in appearance, but have a significant purple coloration in the heart of the mushroom cap. There has been limited research and testing on this type of Reishi, due in large part to the scarcity of authentic purple Reishi specimens. It is the very high content of polysaccharides (complexsugars) in red Reishi that makes it particularly potent. However, due to harsh environmental conditions, the instability of wild red Reishi in nature, and its vulnerability to pollution, disease, and insect infestations, the number of high quality red Reishi specimens that can reach full maturity in the wild is rare.

As a result, approximately 30 years ago, scientists and farmers began experimenting with different methods of domestic cultivation for mass production. Since then, Japanese producers in particular, have earned the reputation of growing the highest quality red Reishi, thanks in part to strict regulations set by the Japanese government to uphold quality and trade standards.

Physical Characteristics and Chemical Composition of Red Reishi

Red Reishi mushrooms are primarily composed of complex carbohydrates called polysaccharides, triterpeniods, proteins and amino acids. Studies indicate that it is these polysaccharides, the most active element found in red Reishi, that are responsible for strengthening the body’s immune system. Medical practitioners in China and Japan have long used herbs like ginseng, brasenia and astragalus – which all share red Reishi’s high polysaccharide content – to decrease the side effects of chemotherapy suffered by cancer patients.

In addition, ganoderic acids in red Reishi have also been shown to help alleviate common allergies by inhibiting the chemical mediators of inflammation, including histamine release. Aside from the exceptionally high polysaccharide content, no exclusive or unique ingredient has yet been identified in red Reishi that can be credited for the mushroom’s remarkable health enhancing abilities. It is more likely that the potency of the mushroom lies in the combination of its chemical constituents – a natural illustration of the idea that “the whole is more than the sum of its parts”.